Title: Faithfully Yours

Title: Faithfully Yours

Author: MichelleBA

Summary: The lives of Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler, together and apart, through the good and bad.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler or any of the other mentioned “24” characters or things. (Lyrics by Jordan Sparks)

The mood of this chapter is really light and fluffy…:)

Chapter 43

“I’m here to see Geoffrey Wycoff” Michelle told the woman at the front desk of the Sherman Acres elderly home.

“Ma’am I’m not sure why you’re here and I don’t know how well you know Mr. Wycoff, but he is not very friendly these days.”

“I think I can handle it” Michelle said with a polite smile.

“Okay, he’s right over there” the woman said pointing to the man in the corner who was yelling at a nurse who had food in her hand.

“I told you! I won’t eat this crap anymore! I’m through with it! Come back when you have regular food for me to eat!”

“Mr. Wycoff?” Michelle said approaching him.

“What now?” he asked with an angry tone.

“You hungry?” she asked.

“Why?” he snapped.

“We could get outta here and get some real food.”

“No, they don’t let me out” he said bitterly.

“Trust me I’ll get you out,” she said with a smile.

“What’s in it for you” he said bitter, but interested.

“I’m 26 so I’m always on the prowl for dinner with a good-looking half-way decent guy” she said with a smile.

He stopped “Wow, You’re bold,” he said biting his tongue trying not to smile.

(Half an hour later)

Michelle helped Geoffrey in to her car. Once she was in he perked up “You a lesbian?”

Michelle laughed “No, where’d you get that idea?”

“All the hot ones are lesbians these days, at least that’s the way it is on TV, I don’t get out much so that’s all I have to go by” he said “plus you must’ve done some weird favor for those nurses to get them to let me out of that hell-hole”

“I have my ways,” she said with a smile as her phone began to ring.

“See I knew it! You are a lesbian!”

“No way! I have a boyfriend!” she said opening her phone.

“That don’t mean nuthin honey, even if you got a husband it don’t mean nuthin… not these days” she laughed and pushed the answer button so Chappelle could hear her.

“Look I don’t know what kind of TV you’re watching, but it means something and I’m not a lesbian!” she said as she put the phone up to her ear. “Hello?”

“What the hell?” Chappelle said as Tony, who was also listening in on the call thought the same thing.

“Everything went fine Ryan, we’re on our way”

“Okay good luck” he said hanging up and looking at Tony. “That was weird”

Tony thought ‘You’re telling me?’ as he walked away.

(Meanwhile)

“So I lied,” Michelle said with a smile.

“You are a lesbian?” he asked.

“No!” she said knowing he was just kidding, “I didn’t just bring you out to dinner for your good looks”

“Is it about the fire?” he asked.

“How’d you know?” she asked.

“You’re 26, good-looking and as far as I know you have a boyfriend, why else are you taking an old guy out to dinner?”

She smiled “I actually work for the government”

“That’s how you got me out,” he said.

“We need to know if you remember the gang of terrorists you were persuing”

“I could never forget,” he said “there were five of them. We had apprehended all but one but he was killed in the fight. All four were wounded so we were at the hospital while they were getting checked out. There was an explosion and because of the oxygen lines in the hospital it was huge and the entire side of he hospital exploded.

“You were the only survivor out of the team. Your other agents were all blown away”

“Yeah, I can still remember laying on the floor of the burning building”

“Here’s where we are at. It seemed as thought everyone had been killed especially the terrorists because they had been right there, but now we are suspecting different.”

“Why?”

“We have a security breach, these men had found out security encryptions, but since they had all been killed we didn’t update, but now these codes are being used again, and there is no way anyone else could have accessed them because we have up-ed the security since this incident, which leads us to believe that one man made it out.”

“I blacked out shortly after the explosion, I don’t remember much”

“But you were there, is there any reason at all you can think for these men to be alive?”

“No, they should have all been right in those rooms right by each other, right where the explosions was. If they were anywhere in that hallway there is no chance they lived.”

“That entire wing of the hospital was gone,” she said thinking. “Would you mind coming back to my office to do a debrief on the event, just so we have everything you know?”

“As soon as I finish my sandwich, this is the first real food I’ve had in over a year”

(An hour later)

Michelle and Geoffrey walked into CTU. Michelle showed him to the debriefing rooms. “So a technician is going to come in and he’ll work the recorder right here,” she said pointing to the device in front of him as he sat at the table. “He will also ask questions to help bring out details and clarify things”

“Sounds pretty boring”

“It usually is” Michelle said with a smile as Tony walked into the room. “Hey Tony” she said “Mr. Wycoff this is Tony Almeida”

“How are you?” Tony said “Thank you for coming in”

Tony looked at Michelle “We’re waiting on Tom… he should be in any minute” He continued to stare at her wanting to say something, but not sure.

“I thought he was sick?”

“Is he?” he asked, “They said they were sending someone down”

“Hey Michelle” Geoffrey said causing Michelle to turn around “That your boyfriend? Cause with the way he keeps at you-”

Just then the door swung open and Ryan came in “Ok lets get this thing started”

“You’re doing the debrief?” Tony asked Chappelle.

“Yes I am, is there a problem?” he said challenging Tony to argue.

“I’m heading home then,” Tony said.

“Be here early tomorrow… now if you too don’t mind, I’d like to get this started so I can go home.”

Geoffrey wiggled his eyebrows “they don’t mind”

Michelle made a motion for him to stay quiet behind Ryan’s back on her way out.

Geoffrey smiled as the debrief began.

“Looks like you made a new friend” Tony smiled as they walked toward the newly finished bullpen.

“Yeah I think grumpy old men are my new type” she said then lowered her voice “so watch out”

“So I’m no longer your type?” he said playfully.

She turned around and looked at him closely as they stood in the hallway with no one around. She looked at his hair and spotted a single gray hair “Actually grow a few more of these and stop grinning so much and you’ll be in business”

“Hey leave Ryan alone” he said.

“Ryan? You named your gray hair after our boss?”

“It’s dedicated to him since he is the one who gave it to me”

“How sweet” she said continuing to walk toward her computer. She stepped up into her new station, which had screens all around and multiple computers. She unlocked her desk and took out her keys and purse.

“Wanna accompany to my office?” Tony asked.

She looked around; there weren’t many people so she answered, “Only if you keep your hands to yourself”

“No promises” he said as he headed up the stairs.

She rolled her eyes and followed him.

(Half an hour later)

Geoffrey came out of the hallway into the bullpen and spotted Michelle walking to the exit. “Michelle” he caked.

She turned around “Hey how’d it go?”

“Good” he lowered his voice to a whisper “how was the sex?”

Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened “and you said I was bold!?”

“Your hair’s messed up and your blushing” he said, “it’s obvious.” Michelle quickly used her fingers to fix her hair as much as possible.

Tony walked up behind them quietly saying, “there was no sex, trust me.. I wish there were”

She slapped him “here comes Ryan, you two are gonna get me fired!”

Ryan walked up “Geoffrey there is a car waiting to escort you home, thank you for coming in” he looked at Tony “I thought you were going home”

“I am”

(20 minutes later)

Tony and Michelle were eating ice cream on their way back to Tony’s house. “thanks for the ice cream”

“Well you kinda left me alone for dinner so I figured we could get ice cream” he said with a smile

“Ooo I feel a sugar rush coming on” she said closing her eyes.

“Uh oh” he said scrunching eyebrows “This could be bad”

(10 minutes later)

“You know what’s weird?” Tony said to a sugared-up Michelle.

“This thing I found in the back of my refrigerator yesterday!” Michelle said with a disgusted face.

“No, not that”

“No really this was weird it was green and black and a really weird shape... I think I saw it move-” she said speaking extremely fast.

“Michelle focus” he said turning her face to him and smiling.

“It was really weird” she finished.

“I’m sure it was bizarre” Tony said “What I was gonna say is a lot times I talk about you…”

“Behind my back” Michelle finished his sentence.

“It’s all good stuff” he assured

“Better be”

“But anyway they ask me if you’re my wife, girlfriend what, and I want to tell them girlfriend, cause that’s where we are right now but girlfriend just doesn’t really describe what you are to me.”

“Try live-in lover”

“You don’t actually live here though”

“I sleep here, eat here, shower here, keep most of my clothes here…” she said “but yes my mail goes to that other address… which I have trouble remembering these days”

“So why don’t you just move in?”

“One step at a time”

Hurry up and wait, so close but so far away

Everything that you’ve always dreamed of

Close enough for you to taste

But you just can’t touch

You believe and you doubt

Your confused, you got it all figured out

Everything you’ve always wished for

Could be yours, Should be yours, would be yours it they only knew

One step at a time there’s no need to rush

It’s like learning to fly or falling in love

It’s gonna happen and it’s supposed to happen

We live and we learn to take

“You’re just playing hard-to-get,” he said with a smile.

“No this is playing hard-to-get,” she said running off giggling.

He took off after her ‘We should get ice-cream more often’